A King's Tools
by Adamantheron
Summary: **THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS! GIVE ME 2 DAYS TO UPLOAD EACH CHAPTER! THANK YOU!** Every rose has its thorns, and every prick has a little bit of poison. NOTE: I do not own any of these characters.


A King's Tools

-Part 1-

"Pitiful…" Rolling his eyes and grumbling, Archer rested his elbow upon the arm of his throne and crossed his legs. There he was, sitting upon his shimmering, gold seat of power, gazing down at all of Japan's life activity. Hoping to observe a fight or watch the actions of other servants, he stayed seated on his perch and waited patiently. The sun had already stop presenting its brilliant glow and the pale moonlight was the only other source of light besides the scattered dots of artificial illumination. Sighing, he lent forwards and hung his head in boredom.

"Mongrels, all of you… You would think you'd provide more entertainment suitable for a king like myself," he mumbled to himself. Suddenly a flash of golden light appeared, growing steadily in its spherical shape, then slowly dissipating, leaving an orange tint to the surrounding area.

"Oh… what's this?" To further explore the mysterious beam of light, Archer stood from his throne and materialized into nothing, his spirit transferring to the site. Lo and behold, Saber and Lancer were both on opposite sides of a field, panting hard. Archer was high in the sky, off in the background and not noticed by either of them. He smirked upon the beauty of the site, finally happy to have _something_ that will amuse him.

"You might as well give up Saber, I'm not going to let you win," Lancer stammered, his chest rising and falling heavily. It seemed as though every word he uttered pained him in a way. Saber, whose energy was equally as depleted, wiped the tiny beads of sweat away from her forehead.

"Nor will I, so raise your arms once again against me, this sparring match isn't over yet," she said with a weak grin. Lancer planted his feet firmly in the earth and took his stance, waiting for so much as a muscle twitch from her to move. Saber raised her blade, then her arms began to shake and the blade became heavier and heavier in her hands. She succumbed the weight of her blade and fell onto her knees. Concerned, Lancer ran towards her, dropping both his guard and lance. Archer, still stalking them from afar, rolled his eyes in disgust.

"Typical…" he mumbled under his breath. Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, Lancer heaved her up so she was on her feet. Saber closed her eyes and sighed heavily; she didn't want Lancer to think he had one this sparring match, especially after last time. She had let her guard down, even though it was a split second, and she was harmed in the process; she had lost the ability to use her left arm for a few weeks. Those were the most important weeks…

"Can you stand?" Lancer asked, looked at her concerned. His features softened and his voice became a little more steady, not as deep and intimidating as it was a few moments ago. She nodded, gazing at the ground. There was a feeling stirring inside her that she couldn't describe. It was almost like a beast was trapped inside a cage, and every time she felt the touch of Lancer, the beat thrashed about. Of course this feeling was ridiculous and pure nonsense. Saber removed her arm from Lancer's shoulder and dusted off her blouse, pushing back strands of golden, blond hair. She gave a weak smile in appreciation, her crystal-clear blue eyes glowing with joy.

"Thank you, it was very kind of you to aid an enemy in the fashion that you did." Lancer smirked and rubbed his neck nervously.

"Don't think that this means that you win or anything. Why don't you rest up so we can finish this, make it a fair match."

"Oh, excuse me while I go throw up," Archer exclaimed, keeping his voice down so they wouldn't be aware of his presence. "This sounds like a script from one of those romantic comedies everyone in this time period are obsessed with. It's disgusting."

Regardless of how unappealing it was to Archer, Saber and Lancer seated themselves in the cushiony grass of the field. Lancer lay on his back, and a few feet away from him Saber did the same. They looked into the sky with content looks plastered onto their faces, the silence crashing over them like morning tides. There weren't very many stars in the sky, most were hidden because of all the other light polluting their vision; but the stars that were visible twinkled. Saber felt a sudden pain in her arm, as if a tiny shard of glass was twisting around in her arm. Instinctively, she latched onto her pained spot and clenched her jaw. That was when she was reminded for the second time today of her scar.

If her armor wasn't in the way, she'd inspect her wound. It wasn't usual for it to go on sudden spasms of pain like this; in fact, this was a relatively new behavior. _Perhaps the blade left some poison in me, and every time Lancer touches me, it reacts with the poison which, as a result, harms me, _she thought. After tossing it around in her head, she rolled her eyes. _No, that can't be. He broke the blade, and the pain left immediately afterward…the only thing left is the scar…right?_

"You doing ok over there?" Saber turned her head to meet Lancer's concerned eyes. She opened her eyes wide in shock, realizing she must have been showing her thought process; she blushed lightly, embarrassed.

"Yes, just reminiscing over the events of the past," she assured him and returned her focus back to the night sky. Lancer worked his way closer to her, wriggling and squirming. He didn't want to get too close, but close enough that he could wrap his arms around her once more and embrace her. He wanted to say something really cheesy like, "We should cuddle for warmth" or "Wow, you're freezing… but I'm willing to be your personal jacket," but reframed from doing so. Instead, he let the moment take its own course of action.

"Well well well, what do we have here. I see our two little love birds are getting along quite well. I mean c_ome on, _this is the most pathetic attempt at something 'romantic' I've seen since I ruled my kingdom; and I've seen more than my fair share of pathetic things," Archer mocked, shaking his head in disgrace. "None the matter, the fact that they're so vulnerable is going to make what I have in mind quite the show." Once again, he faded into the background, this time laughing loudly, without a care in the world. His cackles echoed in the night, and all that was left was a golden shimmer where he once was. Unaware of what just happened, Saber and Lancer lay on the field, eyes closed and hearts intertwined.


End file.
